With a star-studded cast of thousands and global interest in Asian cinema at an all-time high, the region's premier film festival is bringing glamour and glitz to this port city.

Thousands of screaming fans greeted action superstar Jackie Chan, Taiwanese actor Chang Chen and a host of homegrown Korean celebrities at the opening ceremony of the nine-day Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.

The yacht club next to the pine tree-fringed sands of the city's Haeundae Beach was transformed into a 5 000-capacity open-air cinema for the lavish red-carpet opening.

The movie, starring Chang and sex siren Shu Qi, tells the story of three romances in Taiwan against the backdrop of the 1911 Chinese revolution, the 1966 cultural revolution and in modern times. The film premiered at Cannes earlier this year but left empty-handed.

"PIFF has grown to become Asia's biggest and best film festival," he said, explaining he had made changes to the film because the original had been produced in a hurry and he wasn't satisfied with the version shown at Cannes.

Chan is in town to promote his latest movie, The Myth, which had its Korean premiere yesterday. In a sign of how South Koreans have taken to the festival, most of the 600-plus screenings have sold out.

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